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Teaching elementary music can be a lot, and we often need a lot of activities. So if you need to practice rhythm, fill a few minutes, or just do something fun, here’s a few FREE rhythm games for elementary music class. All of them can be done with no money and little time.
Note: Some of them don’t need materials, but some will need rhythm cards. If you don’t have rhythm cards, you can get some quarter note, eighth note, and quarter rest rhythm cards for free in my free resource library– plus you’ll get access to a lot of other free resources including lesson slides, manipulatives, centers activities, and more!
Poison Rhythm
First off: A classic– Poison Rhythm!
For this game, you choose a rhythm to be the Poison Rhythm. Practice it with the students. I like to write it on the board for reference.
Then you clap a pattern, and students clap it back at you. They repeat everything EXCEPT the poison. If they clap the poison, they are out.
This one is really versatile: you can add instruments, change the rhythms, or even do melodic poison instead.
Splat
Next free rhythm game up: Splat! For this one, you’ll need those rhythm flashcards. Spread them around the room.
Split the class into teams, then have one student from each group come to the front. Read a rhythm and they have to grab it. First student with the right answer is the winner, and gets a point for their team.
For this one, you can have students grab the rhythm, have them use a fly swatter and hit it, or have them put a piece of paper in their teams’ color on top of the flashcard.
Need flashcards? Join the free resource library and get them here!
Extra Beat, Take a Seat
This is one of my go-to free rhythm games for days when I need something fun but simple– and it is engaging enough that you can use it for a long time. You can usually get a good 20-30 minutes out of this one.
To play, choose a rhythm. Have students play the rhythm 3 times. If they make an extra sound, they are out (take a seat).
Once the remaining students can play it correctly 3 times, everyone comes back into the game while you go to 5 times, 7 times, etc.
I usually go to 9 times, then have them close their eyes and try ten. This time, I just go through it once, even if they don’t all get it correct. Then we start over with a new rhythm.
You can do this one with body percussion, or have them add rhythm sticks. When I use sticks, I’ll have students sit in a circle and add their sticks to the middle when they are out.
Note: This is one of my favorites for when I travel to the classrooms!
Need more details? Here’s a blog post with all the details and a link to a free slides presentation!
Pass the Beat Around the Room
I found this one on Youtube, so I’ll add the video here:
To play this one, you get a rhythm. I typically start with “Pass the beat a-round the room (rest)”. Each student gets one beat. So the first person says pass, the next says the, the next says beat, and so on and so forth.
If someone hesitates or says the wrong thing, then they are out.
After a while, you can change the rhythm. I like to use words instead of saying ta’s and titi’s. We usually do pizza toppings or ice cream flavors.
I’ve played this game MANY times, but this past time, I started having students follow a metronome. This helped us stay on beat and gave us an additional way to make it harder– making it faster.
Rhythm Telephone
Next up: Rhythm Telephone.
There’s two ways to play rhythm telephone.
Option 1: Students sit in a line or a circle. Whisper a rhythm to the first student. They whisper it to the next person, and so on and so forth. The last person says it out loud. If they are right, they get a point. If they are wrong, then you get a point. Have the first person go to the end each time so that you can switch the order up a bit. And I like to use a rhythm card to prove that the rhythm I say it was is in fact what it was.
Note: I love using this game when we are in line, but the teacher is a little bit late. Keeps them quiet.
Option 2: Have students sit in lines. One person from each line comes to the front, and you whisper the rhythm to them. They tap the rhythm on the back of the person in front of them, who taps it on the back of the person in front of them, and so on and so forth. The person in the front to the line has to find the correct rhythm card or write the rhythm on a white board. First group with the right answer wins.
Bonus Free Rhythm Game: Shark Attack!
Ok, I lied. I have a 6th free rhythm game for you– Shark Attack!
This is a card game that I use to practice reading rhythms in my elementary music class, and they love it!
Here’s how to play:
- Print out the cards and put them into a box or bucket.
- Students take turn pulling out a card and clapping the rhythm (or playing it on Orff or a drum….).
- If they get it right, they keep it. If it is wrong, they put it back in the box, and the next student takes a turn.
- Some of the cards have students put back a card, put back all cards, change directions, etc.
- Most cards at the end wins.
This is one that I made up, but you can get the quarter and eighth note set for free!
Click here to download for free!
There you are– free rhythm games to play whole group in elementary music class! Use these for review, for testing, for being in the teachers’ classrooms, for rewards, or just for an easy day for you.
Need more ideas? Check out some of my favorite centers games here!
Happy teaching!
Becca
